This invention relates generally to fiber board cutting machines and, more particularly, to an improved tool holder and tab system for cutting insulation fiber board of the type which has an impermeable barrier on one face thereof.
Machines have heretofore been used to cut grooves in fiber board of a matted fiberglass type having a barrier on one face thereof, such as aluminum foil. U.S. Pat. No. 3,605,534 for such a machine was issued to William H. Barr in 1967. Subsequent to the Barr patent, several other fiber board cutting machine patents have issued with improvements thereto, including U.S. Pat. No. 3,941,018 issued to Jimmy L. Williams, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,996,824 and 4,091,697 issued to Ronald J. Cailey. The disclosures of the above-mentioned patents are included herein by reference.
In the prior art board cutting machines, a blade assembly is fixably mounted on a tool holder. A plurality of the prior art tool holders are adjustably positioned at predetermined spacing along the tool bar assembly, and the fiber board is fed through the cutting machine to form grooves spaced across the board. Adjustment of the position of the tool holder, including the blade assembly, results in grooves of different positions on the fiber board and thereby provides for forming the fiber board into duct work of different sizes and cross-section configurations.
In the prior art cutting machines, the blade assembly is permanently fixed to the tool holder. Different blade configurations are used to cut various groove profiles in the board as taught in the Barr patent (U.S. Pat. No. 3,605,534). A need has existed for a tool holder that provides for adjustability of the blade position in the tool holder. A further need exists for a simple, inexpensive, reliable tab system for use in connection with the tool holder to position the tool holder to form grooves at correct spacings on the fiber board.
The present invention comprises an improved tool holder that provides for adjustability and interchangeability of blade assemblies and further provides that one tool holder may accept any one of a number of the blade assemblies for cutting grooves in fiber board of varying thickness.
In one embodiment, the present invention comprises an improved tool holder for a board cutting machine. The board cutting machine has an input side and an output side and a predetermined direction of feed of a board to be cut. The cutting machine includes at least one tool holder bar disposed transverse to the direction of feed of the board.
The improved tool holder comprises a first member having a bottom and at least one upstanding wall, the upstanding wall terminates in an outwardly turned flange that is adapted to be received on the tool holder bar of the board cutting machine. The first member has at least one downwardly disposed bracket for receiving an adjustment mechanism.
A blade assembly is removably attached to the adjustment mechanism, wherein the blade assembly may be adjustably moved in a transverse direction to the feed direction of the board. At least one blade is mounted on the attachment member.
The present invention further comprises a tab system for cutting grooves in a fiber board used for forming insulation duct work into a predetermined shape using the previously described board cutting machine. The tab system comprises at least one tool holder having a first blade assembly for cutting a board of a first predetermined thickness removably attached to an adjustment mechanism, wherein the blade assembly may be moved in a transverse direction to the feed direction of the board into the machine, as previously described, and a second blade assembly for cutting a board of a second predetermined thickness for interchanging with the first blade assembly. The second blade assembly is adapted to be removably attached to the adjustment mechanism, wherein the blade assembly may be moved in a transverse direction to the feed direction of the board into the machine.
A tab is disposed on the tool holder wherein the tab includes a first indicator mark for indicating the desired predetermined position of a first blade in the first blade assembly for cutting longitudinally a first side of a groove in material of a first predetermined thickness and a second indicator mark for indicating the desired predetermined position of a second blade in the first blade assembly for cutting longitudinally a second side of a first groove in a material of a first predetermined thickness. The first tab further includes a third indicator mark for indicating the desired predetermined position of a first blade in the second blade assembly for cutting longitudinally a first side of a first groove in material of second predetermined thickness and a fourth indicator mark for indicating the desired predetermined position of a second blade in the second blade assembly for cutting longitudinally a second side of a first groove in a material of a second predetermined thickness.